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Current PhD Students | Jack, Joseph & Morton Mandel School for Advanced Studies in the Humanities

Current PhD Students

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Itay Abadi

Department of Archaeology

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Subject: The Transition from The Upper Palaeolithic To the Epipalaeolithic In the Southern Levant And the Development of The Microlithic Technology.

Supervisor: Prof. Nigel Goring-Morris

Abstract: The doctoral dissertation focuses on one of the important developments in the of ancient hunting methods in the southern Levant. This change took place during the transition between the transition from the Upper Paleolithic to the Epipaleolithic periods (some 25,000 years ago), due to the development of microlithic tools (small stone tools, carefully designed in standard shapes, used to form composite projectile tools).
The study examines stone tool assemblages from several sites in the southern Levant from the end of the Upper Paleolithic and the beginning of the Epipaleolithic. By combine three different methods to analyze stone tool production (attribute analysis, experimental knapping and core refitting) the study aims to trace the source of this change and its evolution in terms of chronology, technology and style. 

Bio: PhD student at the Institute of Archaeology. Studied for BA and MA at Hebrew University. The MA thesis examining the transition from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic in the Levant, and was completed under the guidance of Prof. Anna Belfer-Cohen. The PhD thesis, written under the supervision of Prof. Nigel Goring-Morris, deals with lithic technology changes that seen with the appearance of the Epipalaeolithic in the Levant.

Publications:

  • Grosman, L., Munro, N.D., Abadi, I., Boaretto, E., Shaham, D., Belfer-Cohen, A., Bar-Yosef, O. 2016. Nahal Ein Gev II, a Late Natufian Community at the Sea of Galilee. PLoS ONE 11(1): e0146647. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146647.
  • Goder-Goldberger, M., Ginat, H., Ragolski, G., Seri, G., Abadi, I. 2017. Middle Palaeolithic Find Spots with Nubian Cores from the Southern Negev and the Arava, Israel. Journal of Lithic Studies 4(1). doi:10.2218/jls.v4i1.1688.
  • Grosman, L., Shaham, D., Valletta, F., Abadi, I., Goldgeier, H., Klein, N., Dubreuil, L., Munro, N.D. 2017. A Human Face Carved on a Pebble from the Late Natufian Site of Nahal Ein Gev II. Antiquity 91(358). doi:10.15184/aqy.2017.122.
  • Abadi, I., Grosman, L. 2019. Sickle Blade Technology in the Late Natufian of the Southern Levant. In Asrtuc L, McCartney C, Briois F, Kassianidou V (Eds.), Near Eastern Lithic Technologies on the Move: Interactions and Contexts in the Neolithic Traditions, 8th International Conference on PPN Chipped and Ground Stone Industries of the Near East, Nicosia, November 23rd–27th 2016. Pp. 295-304. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology Volume 150. Astrom Editions, Nicosia.
  • Friesem, D.E., Abadi, I., Shaham, D., Grosman, L. 2019. Lime Plaster Cover of the Dead 12,000 Years Ago – New Evidence for the Origins of Lime Plaster Technology. Evolutionary Human Sciences 1: e9. doi: 10.1017/ehs.2019.9.
  • Abadi, I., Bar-Yosef, O., Belfer-Cohen, A. 2020. Kebara V — A Contribution for the Study of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition in the Levant. PaleoAnthropology 2020: 1−28. doi:10.4207/PA.2020.ART139.

President Scholarship 2019/20

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Binyamin Amitai

The department of Hebrew literature

Subject:  Yosef Birbi Nissan's spot in the history of the early Piyut

אסף

Asaf Ben Haim

https://huji.academia.edu/AsafBenHaim

Archaeology and Ancient Middle Eastern studies

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Subject:  The Development of the Urban Layout at the South-Western Hill of Jerusalem from the Hellenistic Period to the Destruction of the City on AD70

Supervisor:  Dr. Orit Peleg-Barkat

Abstract:  I’m an archaeologist; specializing in classical periods at the levant, in architectural decoration and in the application of computational methods and 3D modeling on the study of stone decoration. In my PhD I am studying the development of the urban layout at the south-western hill of Jerusalem from the Hellenistic period to the destruction of the city in AD70.
I am a graduate of the Mandel School M.A. Research Track Honors Program and the “Late Antiquity” interdisciplinary M.A. Research Honors Program. In my masters I have studied the architectural decoration found at the fortress-palace in Herodium, its cultural influence and stone-carving methods.
I am the head of the New Hebrew University Expedition for the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem, together with Dr. Orit Peleg-Barkat and Dr. Oren Gutfeld; member of the Ehud Netzer Expedition for Herodium; member of the Hebrew University Expedition for Horvat Midras.

Publications:  Peleg-Barkat, O. and Ben-Haim, A. (2017). ‘Monumental Ionic columns from areas Q and H’, in:Geva, H., Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem Conducted by Nahman Avigad, 1969–1982, volume VI: Areas J, N, Z and Other Studies, The Israel Exploration Society and the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, pp. 68–95.

בן־חיים, א׳ וכלף, א׳ (2018). ״עדויות למבנה מונומנטלי ממערב להר־הבית בשלהי ימי הבית השני״. חידושים בארכיאולוגיה של ירושלים וסביבותיה, י״ב, 56–77.

Ben-Haim, A. (forthcoming), ‘The Architectural Decoration of Lower Herodium’, in: Porat, R., Kalman, Y., and Chachy, R., Herodium II: Lower Herodium and other studies, The Israel Exploration Society and the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

בן־חיים, א׳ (בדפוס). ״עיטורי האבן בארמון־מבצר ההר בהרודיון: אומנים וסגנונות בחצרו של הורדוס״, ארץ ישראל ל״ה: ספר הלל גבע. החברה לחקירת ארץ־ישראל ועתיקותיה, ירושלים.

Year: 2021/2022 President Stipend

MA Honors Program 2015/16

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Tal Brit

Department of Art History

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Subject: Philosophia Naturalis in 14-16th century and the Representation of Nature in the Art of North Italy

Supervisor: Dr. Lola Kantor-Kazovsky

Abstract: In my research I intend to trace the Medieval taxonomy of plants, Wild Men, landscapes and texts of Philosophia Naturalis, in the visual iconography of goddess Natura: starting with theological writings and ending with the private canvases commissioned by North Italian aristocrats in the Quattrocento and the Cinquecento. The Iconongraphical interpretations of canonical canvases such as the (so called) “Venus” of Giorgione, and other mysterious females, is still vague and unidentified, in spite of the vast amount of textual and visual precedents. I will claim that the detailed geology as well as the figurative characters, are allegorical representations of Natura, and a result of a synthesis between the Medieval tradition of Philosophia Naturalis and the Humanistic culture. For each of the cosmographical components of the Medieval Philosophia Naturalis there is an essential origin in Pliny’s encyclopedic Historia Naturalis which received a new kind of attention in the Trecento. I believe it would be justified to explore the misconstrued compositions of these private canvases through that encyclopedic perspective, which seem to have been dominant in patronage culture during the Quattrocento and Cinquecento. I will use them as both the objects of research and as its focus. In addition to previous interpretations of these motifs, I believe that a further understanding of the philosophical contemplation over the relations between the creations of Man versus those of Nature would suffice a more objective understanding of these compositions. As a result, I hope it will deepen our general view of North Italian artists and their patrons.

Bio: A Phd student in the Art History department in the Hebrew University; Studying North Italian allegories and their visual representation in the Quattrocento and the Cinquecento; Teaching ancient Art and Though in the Israeli Arts and Science Academy; An avid lecturer and organizer of various courses and conferences in the scholarly arena.

Rotenstreich Scholarship 2021/22

President Stipend 2018/19

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Moishi Chechik

Department of Talmud and Halakha

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Subject: Movement and trends in Halachic ruling in 16th century Ashkenaz‏ and Poland

Supervisor: Prof. Simcha Emanuel

Abstract: The history of Halakhah in early modern Europe with cultural and social emphasis‏‏

 

President Stipend 2018/19

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Danielle Chen Kleinman

Department of Asian Studies

Department of Asian Studies

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Subject:  An Island in a Cosmopolitan Sea: Toward a Definition of Kakawin Poetics

Supervisor: Prof. Yigal Bronner and Prof. Ronit Ricci

Abstract: Danielle's research examines the corpus of kakawin literature - a form of court poetry written in the Kawi language, which served as the preferred medium of aesthetic and political self-representation of the ruling Javanese elites between the 9th and 15th centuries CE. The research explores the set of literary tools, figural as well as prosodial, which were developed and used by the Javanese poets, in their process of creating a local literary identity within the larger cosmopolitan space known as the "Sanskrit cosmopolis".  Special attention is given to the creative and innovative ways in which the Javanese poets borrowed literary models and text-building strategies from Sanskrit kāvya literature while reconfiguring and rearticulating them to fit their new aesthetic and cultural environment.  

Bio: Danielle Chen is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Asian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, under the supervision of Prof. Ronit Ricci and Prof. Yigal Bronner, and a member of the ERC research group "The new Ecology of Expressive Modes in Early Modern South India" organized by Prof. David Shulman. Danielle holds an MA degree from the Hebrew University in which she focused on the aesthetic theory of Abhinavagupta, the 11th century Kashmiri philosopher and poetician. She is currently working on Old Javanese (Kawi) texts and textuality and is especially interested in the complex set of interactions they shared with Sanskrit literature and forms of conceptualization.

President Stipend 2019/20

Azrieli Scholarship 2021/22

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Noam Cohen

Department of Philosophy

Subject: Intersubjectivity and Community in Logical and Mathematical Objectivity

Supervisor: Dr. Michael Roubach

Aviya Doron

Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry

Subject: Risk and Trust in Jewish-Christian economic interactions in the German Empire (1280-1420)

Supervisor: Prof. Elisheva Baumgarten

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Chagai Emanuel

Department of Talmud

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Subject: Talmudic reasonning and the Sasanian context of the Babylonian Talmud

MA Honors 2018/19

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Tom Eshed

Tom Eshed

Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry

Subject:  Holocaust Diplomacy: Commemorating the Shoah in Israeli Foreign Relations, 1948-200

Supervisor: Prof. Amos Goldberg

Anabella Esperanza

Dr. Anabella Esperanza

Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

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Subject: Jewish Women's Religious and Medical Practices at the late Ottoman Empire

Supervisor: Prof. Liat Kozma

Bio: Anabella Esperanza is a MA graduate in the Department for the Study of Jewish Languages and Literatures: Ladino Studies. Her MA thesis, "Women's Writings in Judezmo (Ladino) in the Late Ottoman Empire (1871-1902): Istanbul, Salonica and Serres", examine aspects of literacy, reading and writing practices of the firsts female writers in Judezmo (Ladino) in the Late Ottoman Empire. 
Anabella is a P.h.D student under Prof. Liat Kozma's guidance.  Her research explore Jewish Women's Religious and Medical Practices in the Late Ottoman Empire in the context of the Ottoman Muslim Society. Anabella is part of Mandel School for Humanities and the ERC research group 'Regional History of Middle East Medicine'. 

President Stipend 2018/19

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Natan Evron

Department of Bible Studies

Subject: Nehemiah in Second Temple Period Literature: From the Bible to Josephus

Supervisor: Prof. Michael Segal and Dr. Ronnie Goldstein

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Mor Geller

Department of History 

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Topic Public Opinion Polling and the Future(s) of the German Democratic Republic, 1966–1989

Supervisor Prof. Ofer Ashkenazi

Bio: I am a research student in history, focusing mainly on cultural history, Alltagsgeschichte, and knowledge production in Cold War Germany. I obtained my BA and MA from the same department and from the HUJI Institute of History Honors Program. I also participated in the Mandel School MA Honors Program, and am a fellow at the Koebner Center for German History. Between the years 2019-2021 I served as editor-in-chief of the student journal "Hayo Haya – a Young Forum for History." Beside my research, I am interested in cinema, socialism, and urban planning.

Abstract My dissertation will explore the widespread phenomenon of public opinion polling in East Germany and the multiple roles it played in the effort to sustain and reform the state’s power structure between the mid-1960s and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Through an analysis of the surveys and reports produced by the state-sanctioned social research institutes, I aim to establish the centrality of this method to the cultural, social, and political history of the German Democratic Republic and to understand the ways in which it was used by citizens in unexpected ways to imagine the future(s) of the GDR.

Publications:
Geller, Mor. “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Socialism: Education and Entertainment in the Musical Film Heißer Sommer (GDR, 1968).” Slil – Journal for History, Film, and Television (Forthcoming). [in Hebrew]

Mosse Stipend 2021/22

 

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Keren

Keren Goldberg

Department of  Art History

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Subject: Parafiction Art in Israel and Palestine

Supervisor: Dr Noam Gal

Abstract: My research examines the phenomenon of parafiction art in Israel and Palestine in the past two decades. Parafiction art was first defined in 2009 as works of art that imitate, make believe, fake or create fictive stories, events or people, which are then grounded in the world and are experienced as facts. I would like to offer that the unique parafictional aesthetic representation, and its relation to questions of truth and belief, should be examined in light of the specific geopolitical context of its creation. Focusing on the geopolitical context of Israel and Palestine will allow me to consider the definition of parafiction art critically, to examine its validity, and to offer a typology based on case studies. Case studies include works by Public Movement, Tamir Zadok, Khalil Rabah and Khaled Jarrar, among rest, and will be read using reception theories.  

Bio: I hold an MA in Critical Writing in Art and Design from the Royal College of Art, London, and a BA in Interdisciplinary Program in the Arts and Psychology from Tel Aviv University. Currently, I am a PhD student at the Art History Department, where I research parafiction art in Israel and Palestine in the last two decades, supervised by Dr. Noam Gal. I am also an art writer and critic, and contribute regularly to various art magazines such as Erev Rav, ArtReview, Mousse, Frieze, art-agenda, ARTnews, and Art Monthly, as well as to various catalogues. I lead an art magazine reading group in Tel Aviv, and guide workshops in art writing and criticism in art schools, such as Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, Shenkar College of Engineering and Design; Ramat Gan, Faculty of Arts – Hamidrasha, Beit Berl College and Minshar School of Art, Tel Aviv. 

Publications: 

2021 – (forthcoming, accepted) “From Unaware Participants to Aware Spectators: Parafiction Art in Israel and Palestine as Case Study” (tentative title), Walking with the Enemy: Reclaiming the Language of Power and Manipulation in the Post-Truth Era, eds. Gediminas Gasparavicius, Maia Toteva and Tom Williams.

2021 – (forthcoming, awaiting publication) “The Double, the Fictional and the Critical: On the (Im)Possibility of an Ontology for the Contemporary Work of Art” (Hebrew), Bezalel Journal of Visual and Material Culture, Issue no. 7: Philosophy and The Arts, ed. Adam Aboulafia.

2015 – “The Melting Pot: Parafiction Art in Israel and Palestine”, JAWS: Journal of Arts Writing by Students, Vol. 1 No. 1.
 

President Stipend 2018/19

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